As allegations of vote-based funding by the ruling Progressive Conservative Party continue across the province, we in St. Paul and area can by now just nod our heads and say, "yep, we may know a little something about it."
How could we not? The administrator of the Town of St. Paul put it best in an email, which gained provincial headlines, when he said MLA Ray Danyluk's candidate had to be selected for party leader or the money to the Town may not be as forthcoming. The people in municipal administration are best situated to know how the system works, so we should be sure to pay special attention when they speak candidly, even if the message wasn't intended for provincial headlines.
While the administrator apologized to council for the controversy surrounding the email, what was not forthcoming was an explanation from the government on why St. Paul and other communities feel they have to toe the line to get what is rightfully theirs – fair funding. The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) certainly feels towns and cities aren’t funded fairly – and launched a campaign last week, calling for a “new relationship” with the province.
The reporting of PC MLA Hector Goudreau's letter to the Holy Family Catholic School Division last week should give us further cause to pause. The letter tries to silence the board for doing its job of advocating for students.
"In order for your community to have the opportunity to receive a new school, you and your school board will have to be very diplomatic from here on out … I advise you to be cautious as to how you approach future communications as your comments could be upsetting to some individuals. This could delay the decision on a new school," the MLA said in his letter last month.
People claim to have been bullied by the Progressive Conservatives and when you read a letter such as this from a former high ranking minister, it's not hard to see how. Goudreau received some negative publicity, but this incident is just the flak for a whole system set up to fan the flames of power – power that is lorded over the lowly citizen, power that decides who gets funding and who doesn't, who gets schools and roads and who goes without.
When you add the way money is distributed by a system of easily revocable grants, it's easy to see how local councils feel tremendous pressure to toe the party line or face having their people suffer from an arbitrary government decision, and how they may have signed onto things like Water for Life that they may have thought not in the best interests of their areas.
Of course rumours abound as elections near, this is natural, but here in St. Paul it's old news that you need to be in the government’s good books, something most of us would like to see put in the past. That raises the timely question of whether the matter can be overcome without a change of political party in government.
Last month, a Progressive Conservative minister fired Twitter tirades against the president of the AUMA for raising concerns about the budget. It just seems to confirm the PCs are outrageously arrogant and do not allow for dissent in the ranks. If you want to get by in a PC province, you toe the line. Warlord politics, as the Liberal Party likes to put it, might be a tad over the top. But inappropriate and irresponsible use of power sums it up neatly.
